


and all your tears are fading away...

by NaomiLeyers



Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:07:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23056726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaomiLeyers/pseuds/NaomiLeyers
Summary: he lives and he keeps falling in love and the time is never good enough
Relationships: Gannicus/Marcia, Gannicus/Melitta, Gannicus/Oenomaus, Gannicus/Saxa, Gannicus/Sibyl
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	and all your tears are fading away...

**Author's Note:**

> nothing belongs to me, all the character belong to Steve deKnight and to starz and the title is from Iwan Rheon’s Changing Times

1\. Melitta

Melitta is the first and, Gannicus thinks, she hurts the most.

He isn't sure when exactly he falls in love with her; it could have been when she blushed as she congratulated him on his first victory in the arena, years before he became the champion. It could have been when she laughed at his half-hearted jokes and countered his comments with her own; it could have been when they both spent weeks worrying if Oenomaus survives. He would like to think himself not shallow enough to only fall in love with her because he was forced to fuck her that one time.

They could have been lovers in a different world, he thinks as he stands at the edge of the cliff, still covered in Melitta's blood. They could have been, if only she wasn’t married to his closest friend, and if only they weren’t slaves, and if only he wasn’t about to be sold and if only, _if only_ , she wasn’t fucking dead and he stares at Oenomaus and at the sky and into the void deep down and he only doesn’t jump, because he isn't going to do it to Oenomaus and because whoever killed Melitta is going to fucking die for it.

2\. Marcia

Gannicus doesn’t really fall in love with the dark haired whore who smiles at him as if he was the hero from the fairy-tales he long ago stopped believing in and she talks about the rebellion with faith he once felt towards the gods. She is sweet and pretty and she stares at him with wonder and with hope and she is imagining the Bringer of the rain when Gannicus fucks her, which, he thinks, is only fair, after all he isn't imagining her when he fucks her either.

He doesn’t fall in love with her. (He doesn’t even ask her name; he hasn’t even planned to give her his, but the _rudis_ is a rare thing and he couldn’t not bring it with him, not back then and not ever. He sort of misses the freedom of being a slave.)

Seeing her crucified does break his heart a bit anyway.

3\. Oenomaus

It's easy to love Oenomaus, it has always been easy, even years ago, when Oenomaus was the god of the arena and the love was, mostly, brotherly and they fought side by side and shared wine and bread and really, Oenomaus was the closest thing to a family that Gannicus ever had.

It was easy to love him back when Gannicus didn’t know it was love. It's still easy, in a way. In all others it's not and neither of them can turn back time; Gannicus cannot take back that he fell in love with Oenomaus' wife, that he _fucked_ Oenomaus' wife or that Melitta _died_ because of him, just like Oenomaus cannot take back his undying devotion to the House of Batiatus that made him blind Melitta's pain and to all that followed.

Still, there are a few stolen kisses and quick fumbling in the dark before the battle and Gannicus moans breathlessly into Oenomaus' shoulder as he thinks yes, maybe they can still have it. Later, he will laugh at himself for being so naïve.

He holds Oenomaus in his arms while he is dying, promising to wait for Gannicus in the afterlife with Melitta.

When he again trusts his hands to not shake that much anymore, he slowly gets up from the ground and he thinks, he could, _could_ , leave, it is not his cause and the Bringer of rain has nothing to offer him. (Spartacus offers vengeance and he offers hope and Tullius is dead and so is Batiatus and the last remnant of Gannicus' hopes has stopped breathing only mere minutes ago.)

Yet, he joins Spartacus in the ruins of the temple. Oenomaus and Melitta are waiting in the afterlife and there is only one man skilled enough to reunite him with them. (Not wanting to live is one thing but Gannicus is a gladiator; he will always fight for his life. In the end, he'll need someone, who could best him. He thinks, when looking at Spartacus, that maybe the Thracian is putting the very same hopes in him.)

4\. Saxa

Saxa is… unexpected.

She is different from the women Gannicus knows, even though he can clearly hear a voice in the back of his head that sounds suspiciously like Melitta telling him he doesn’t really _know_ women.

  
Still, she laughs freely and she dances in the rain and when she kisses him, she tastes like wine and like freedom and there is not a single bone in her body that would be deemed proper in the Republic and maybe that is why Gannicus likes her so much. She is the wine, rich and intoxicating and he indulges again and again and the hangover is almost painful.

They could have been friends, he thinks and he wishes himself to be braver when he doesn’t tell her they are over for too long. They could have been friends, he thinks he could _marry_ her, in a different world and they _match_ , too much.

She is the wine and he has drunk too much of her and now he is craving water.

5\. Sibyl

He isn't sure when exactly he falls in love with the young, too innocent not-a-slave.

He is many things but he isn't lying to himself, hasn’t been since he was too young to hold a sword and kill and forced to do so anyway and Sibyl is _too_ much of _too_ good things and she deserves someone who is good enough for her and not a man who cannot even remember how many men he has killed.

She reminds him of Melitta in some ways and she is so different from her in many others and when he saves her from the piercing cold he can feel something broken in him repair, because he manages to save her in time.

When he does fall in love with her, it is as easy as breathing. (She doesn’t return his faith in gods and she doesn’t make him want to turn to farming and he isn't naïve enough to imagine having a family with her, but she is almost making him want to be.)

He only regrets it for a moment when he decides to stay and fight with Spartacus. He almost feels like betraying her, when he chooses violence over her the last time, but it is for a good cause, for a cause more important than his life and he has stopped hoping he would once again find someone worth dying for and yet the time is here and Sibyl seems to only hate him a little for letting her go.  
He has Sibyl’s idol wrapped around his belt as he mounts the horse and charges into the battle he knows will be the last.

Melitta and Oenomaus are waiting for him.

He thinks he will be happy to tell them about her.


End file.
